


In the High Life Again

by SimplySix



Series: The Adventures of Wallace and Nero [4]
Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Confessions, Fluff, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-24
Updated: 2014-01-24
Packaged: 2018-01-09 21:20:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1150916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimplySix/pseuds/SimplySix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All the doors that were closed one time will open up again. </p><p>Sometimes love is only an arm's length away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the High Life Again

**Author's Note:**

> This was a stupid Snippet I wrote on my Tumblr. I had originally posted it on FFNET.
> 
> It is actually kinda funny because I got horribly harassed for this story. xD The anon told me that it was the worst piece of garbage they'd ever read and they couldn't believe the "hype" that was made about me as an author. They might as well told me they'd read better stories from a turkey sandwich. 
> 
> Still, I don't mind it, so here it is. :)

**_In the High Life Again_ **

 

“You are ridiculous, you know that?”

The RED Sniper pulled away and cocked his head to the side. He grinned and shrugged. 

“Ridiculous? Or insatiable?”

The BLU Spy raised an eyebrow.

“A big word for a simpleton.”

“I can read and write, thank you.” the Sniper said, nipping the Spy’s neck. “You are awfully crabby today. Who got  _your_  panties in a twist?”

The Spy made a small noise in his throat while the Sniper pressed his lips against his neck. He wrapped his arms around his lover and held him closer. 

“That wretched Scout.” he answered truthfully. “He blew my cover twice today.”

“Saw that.” the Sniper said with a smirk. “Why didn’ you just shoot him one?”

“Our team does not employ friendly fire.” the Spy replied sourly. “It is a tragedy.”

“Lead him on over to our side tomorrow.” Sniper breathed. “I’ll get Pyro to light him up for you.”

The Spy smiled.

“How sweet of you.”

“I know.” the Sniper whispered. “Come on. I’ve been waitin’ all day…”

“You are impossible, Wallace.”

The Sniper refused to relinquish his hold as the Spy reached up and removed the balaclava from his face. He grinned as soft, black locks fell into the Spy’s bright, blue eyes. The peppered hair of his lover was soft between his fingers as he ran them over the Spy’s scalp. 

He stared as the Spy looked up at him. A worn, faded scar ran across the Frenchman’s right eye. In the dim light, it was hardly noticeable. 

“God, yer beautiful.” Wallace Mundy said, running his hand across the Spy’s cheek. “I’ve missed ya terrible…Nero.”

The Spy smiled wryly.

“It has only been a few days.” he mused.

“Long enough.”

Nero DeLaroux wrapped his arms around Wallace’s neck as the Sniper passionately kissed him. His fingers dug into the Australian’s hair as he pulled the hat from the taller man’s head. He moaned softly while Wallace’s lips trailed down his exposed neck. 

The truth was he had missed the Sniper, too. 

Ever since the gunman had spared him during a night mission at Well, the Spy figured he owed the man one. He had yet to repay the man for letting him keep his life. However, letting him have his body sufficed enough for the both of them.

Wallace moaned as Nero arched into his body.

“I hope you don’ plan to do anything else for the rest of the night, Nero.” the gunman rasped. “I am going to keep you busy.”

Nero smiled.

“I purposely cleared my schedule.” he answered. “I am all yours.”

He let Wallace’s hands roam over his body, loosening his tie and undoing the buttons of his shirt and vest. He felt his muscles ease into the Sniper’s as he dropped the gunman’s hat to the floor. 

Hearts were racing and oxygen was ragged in weary, war run lungs. It was a beautiful sound against the silence of their secret rendezvous. He would never tire of hearing the Sniper’s moan.

His hands were good for more than stabbing people in the back.

“I love you, Nero.”

The Spy started out of his thoughts and looked up at the Sniper. His blue eyes quivered. 

“What?”

The Sniper’s face tensed for a moment before looking away. 

“I said I loved you.” he said softly. “I know…I know you think you owe me for savin’ ya and all, but you don’ owe me nothin’. I saved ya because I had kind of a crush on ya. I didn’ want my teammates to find out what I was, and I didn’ want ya dead, so I helped ya.

“That don’ mean you owe me…but…you started comin’ round…and I got used to seein’ ya. When…when we’re together, I don’ have to be out  _there._ I can be who I am. I can be with YOU.”

Wallace painfully turned back to Nero and shook his head.

“I didn’ save you because I wanted you to be indebted, Nero! I saved ya because I loved ya!  I…I…had to say somethin’, because I know you don’ feel the same about me…I mean, hell…I wouldn’ feel the same about me!

“I…just…wanted to say you didn’ have to keep entertainin’ me cause you thought you owed me somethin’. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Just…thought… you should know.”

There was an ungodly silence that pressed down upon them. It was miserably cold and daunting. It felt like a wet, wool coat in July. The sound of crickets outside made the scene drearier than it was. 

The silence continued for a moment longer before Nero inhaled slowly and closed his eyes. 

“I see.” he replied coolly. “Well. I must say that I am appalled.”

Wallace flinched.

He had hoped that the Spy might, just  _might,_ feel the same way. 

It was all right. He had rehearsed what he would do all day. It would be okay. He could take rejection. He’d taken it his whole life. 

From his father, his mates…the dog…

“Yeah. I kinda figured you would be.” he said hoarsely. 

He trembled unconsciously as Nero grasped his chin in his hand and forced his head toward his. The Spy’s eyes cut straight through him as he kept his arms around the Frenchman’s waist. 

If he let go, that Spy would disappear. 

He knew it.

“Really?” Nero asked curiously. “Do you know  _why_ I am appalled?”

“Cause I said I loved you.” Wallace answered honestly. “And cause it was me who said it.”

Nero made a “tsk” noise in his throat and shook his head.

“Do you think me that much of a French  _whore,_ Wallace?”

Wallace was surprised. 

He shook his head.

“No!” he said vehemently. “I mean…of course I don’t think of you like that, Nero! It’s just…”

“Just  _what_ , Wallace?” Nero asked coldly. 

It was hard to stay mad at the fumbling bushman. 

But, he had to make him see.

See that it was more than that for him, too.

Wallace sighed and closed his eyes.

“It’s just…you deserve better than someone like me.” he whispered. “You could have any man or woman you wanted. But…you humoured me just cause I saved yer skin once. You’ve stayed all this time…and even though I didn’ mind it one bit, and I will lament when it’s gone…I couldn’ lie to you anymore. It isn’ a game or a debt to me.

“I honestly and truthfully love you, Nero! I don’ ever wanna love anyone else! I wanna be the one that takes care of ya…”

The Sniper’s words trailed off as he fought off a sob. 

There was more of his heart in this man than he would ever know. It was hard knowing that you would never get your heart back. 

It was hard accepting your love would go unrequited.

Nero was quiet for a moment before forcing Wallace to look at him. He thoughtfully caressed the gunman’s worn face with his slender, pale fingers. He listened to the Sniper’s painful whimpers before shaking his head.

“It is not a game to me either,  _mon amour_.”

Now, it was the Sniper’s turn to be surprised.

“What?” he croaked.

Tears were starting to slide down his face.

God, he hadn’t cried since his dad had purposefully broken one of his wood shop projects because he didn’t like it. 

Nero smiled.

“You assumed that I was with you because I felt I owed you.” the Spy repeated. “While I will admit, I did feel that I owed you for sparing my life, I did not enter this relationship with you without attachment.”

Taking note of the Sniper’s bewildered gaze, Nero ran his hand over the gunman’s cheek. 

“I was fond of you before you spared my life, Wallace.” Nero whispered. “Didn’t you wonder why I had not disposed of you like your predecessors?”

Wallace stared stupidly and shook his head.

“It was because I liked you.” Nero answered. “You gave me a challenge, but you never gave me more than I could handle. To be honest, it was a refreshing change.  While that is true, I did not realise your feelings until that night you helped me back to my own Base.

“It was the only time you let your guard down on the battlefield.”

The Sniper blushed scarlet and turned away.

“I wasn’t gonna let you die.” he said huffily. “I couldn’t.”

Wallace stared at Nero as the Spy brought his face back toward his again. 

Nero smiled.

“And, then, I knew that my gunman felt the same as  _I_ did.” he responded. “I knew that I could approach you as we are now. I could get to know you  _off_  of the battlefield. 

“These several months have been the best of my entire life. I have not loved another human being like I love you since I was living in France. You have given me more than you will ever know,  _amour_.

“I have loved you long before now. I was waiting for you to stop being a woman and  _tell me_ you loved me. After all, I can’t have a blubbering gunman as a lover.”

Nero closed his eyes and put his head on Wallace’s shoulder as the gunman pulled him into his embrace. He held the Australian tightly. He could hear the breath catching in his partner’s lungs. Tears stained his jacket while he whispered in French. 

It wasn’t a game.

It was never a game.

“I’m sorry I ever doubted ya, Nero!” Wallace gasped. “I’m sorry I didn’ say it sooner!”

Nero shook his head and leaned back.

“You built the suspense quite well, Wallace.” he replied lightly. “Well done.”

Wallace wiped the tears out of his eyes and grinned.

“Learned from the best.”

Nero smiled back and extended his hand to the Sniper. 

“Shall we,  _mon amour_?”

Wallace nodded.

“God, yes.” he responded. “Now that I have ya forever, we shall always.”

Nero laughed.

“That was stupidly poetic, bushman.”

“Living the high life, mate.” Wallace answered, putting his arm around Nero’s waist. “I’m breathing again…and my heart feels so full it might burst. It’s amazing.”

“The high life, hmm?” Nero mused, threading his fingers through the Sniper’s. “That is beautifully poetic. You are full of little quirks, aren’t you?”

“Tons.” the Sniper breathed as he nuzzled Nero’s cheek with his nose. “Like I said, now that I got you forever, you’ll get them all.”

Nero smiled and closed his eyes.

“I love you, too, Wallace.”

He looked up at the Sniper with bright, blue eyes. The truth was, his eyes could never lie. He covered his face to keep his features from giving him away. He hid behind masks so that he could keep others at a distance. 

This man. This man holding him against his chest…he was the only one who had been able to see through all of his ruses. 

He saw through him to his core. 

Wallace nodded and smiled at the Spy.

“I’ve loved ya since ya managed to catch me off my guard and stab me good. I found someone cocky enough to take me on. You got under my skin, Spook. I don’ ever want ya out.”

The lovers embraced and passionately kissed. The moon faded behind a veil of clouds drifting lazily across the New Mexico sky. Stars twinkled in the dark blanket of space. Heaven’s eyes staring into oblivion. Through the desert a tiny dancer whirled through soft spoken colours and quiet sounds. 

The landscape settled into the dream of forever around the run down shack at the edge of the place known as the Badlands. 

Wherever it took them from here, one thing was for certain:

They were in the high life again.

 


End file.
